“Beauty and the Beast” by Celine Dion
The theme and title of this song is from Disney’s movie, Beauty and the Beast, which tells the story of a prince cursed to live as a beast till he finds true love.
The song speaks about how this beast finds a beautiful girl after capturing her father, and unexpectedly allows her into his life. Though his outward appearance is hideous, Beauty soon figures that there is a kind soul beneath this Beast. The couple, as the singer denotes, have to make a huge adaptation despite the fact that they are scared and unprepared to fall in love with each other.
The singer depicts that their union is a strange one, but through it all, love is as certain as the sun and can cause them to change for the better.
Music Video for “Beauty and the Beast”
The song’s associated video was directed by seasoned video director, Dominic Orlando. The clip includes portions from the film as well as footage of the song’s recording sessions.
Who wrote “Beauty and the Beast”?
This classic was composed by American musical conductor-songwriter, Alan Menken. He was assisted by the late lyricist and dramatist, Howard Ashman.
This tune was composed for the 1991 American musical fantasy film, which bears the same title with this song. The tune appears on the movies’ official soundtrack album, dubbed, Beauty and the Beast (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).
This track was the only song on the soundtrack of Beauty and the Beast to be released as a single. It was officially issued on 25th November 1991.
The track is also included on numerous albums of Céline Dion. These include her self-titled (eleventh) album of 1992 and her 1999 compilation album, All the Way… A Decade of Song.
Production Credits
The production of this single was done by Brazilian-American record producer, Walter Afanasieff. This song was first recorded and sung by British-American actress, Angela Lansbury. Angela voiced the fictional character Mrs. Potts in the Beauty and the Beast movie.
Dion’s First Collabo with Peabo Bryson
“Beauty and the Beast” marks the first musical project that Dion and R&B singer, Peabo Bryson have collaborated on.
Did “Beauty and the Beast” win a Grammy?
Yes. It earned the award for “Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal” at the Grammy Awards in 1993. At the ceremony, the track was also selected for the award of “Record of the Year”, but it missed out to “Tears in Heaven” by Eric Clapton.
A Worldwide Hit
The single had a great performance on the worldwide charts, peaking at #2 in Canada and #9 in both the U.S. and the UK. In other territories, this song maintained its outstanding performance, placing inside the top 20 in nations like Ireland, Australia, and the Netherlands.
Ariana Grande’s Cover of “Beauty and the Beast”
This Dion classic was covered by the American pop vocalist, Ariana Grande in 2017. She featured John Legend on this version.
